Cries of Gloom, Resignation and Heartbreak, Plus Faith

Decades ago, reggae made peace with dancehall, its younger, rowdier, more digital version, but soca — reggae’s Caribbean cousin — has been slower to modernize. That’s one of a few reasons that “Differentology” (VP/RCA), the new Bunji Garlin album, feels like such a shock to the system. This is the album that assuredly moves soca into the now era. Mr. Garlin is an authoritative vocalist, and a fun one, too. He’s uproariously engaging on the kinetic title track, and holds his own on the remix of the booming “Truck on D Road” with the twisty ASAP Ferg. But it’s the music that really sets this album apart, especially songs like “Gi Dem Dey” and “Touchless” (both produced by 1st Klase Records), which incorporate the squelches and stomps of modern dance music. They’re so potent that even when the later songs on the album grow more traditional, Mr. Garlin still sounds as if he’s reporting from the future.

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The British singer James Bay has a new EP, “Let It Go.” Among its five songs is “If You Ever Want to Be in Love,” which encompasses country, disco and gospel.CreditAlex Shahmiri

James Bay

LET IT GO

In the last few years, the variety of British singer-songwriters has grown to encompass soul crooners, folk howlers and modest whisperers. Somehow, James Bay is all of those things, and more, on his second EP, “Let It Go” (Republic). He’s an arresting, clear singer with a terrific nervous quiver in his voice. (He plays dry, expressive guitar, too.) Each of these five songs is strong and thick with passion, but “If You Ever Want to Be in Love” is the clear highlight. Over a pulse that embraces country, disco and gospel, he sings hopefully about someone forever out of reach:

Used to talk, drinking to the night

I would wake up on the front room floor

All along you’d be in my bed

Made me crazy, made me want you more.

Father

YOUNG HOT EBONY

The Atlanta rapper Father is a jester, a slacker, a bad seed — and exceptional at all of those poses. His new album, “Young Hot Ebony” (Awful), feels like a comedic fever dream, somewhere between Devin the Dude and the Lucas Brothers. On this album, and also the recent EP “L1L D1DDY,” Father establishes himself as a signature voice in a city full of them. Most of this album is self-produced, and Father has a way with spare, gloomy beats that sound like the soundtracks of abandoned carousels. But, primarily, he’s a deadpan, lewd rapper who forever sounds as if he had just woken up, and views the world with a wry eye roll; even the ostensibly menacing song here, “2 Dead, 6 Wounded,” is peppered with quips. And the more lethargic he sounds, the more his slurred lines sound like inevitable catchphrases.

Kevin LeVar and One Sound

DESTINY! LIVE AT THE DREAM CENTER AND MORE ...

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Kevin LeVar has a single, “Your Destiny,” produced by Harmony Samuels.CreditRoy Cox

The eccentricities of modern gospel have given the genre new attitude and new perspective, but sometimes there is no substitute for good old-fashioned muscle. That’s what the Washington singer Kevin LeVar brings on his second album with One Sound, “Destiny! Live at the Dream Center and More ...” (One Sound), an admirably forceful and musically accomplished set. And diverse, too: “Born to Be Great” has heavy Springsteen echoes, “Ready Set Go” has the pomp of 1980s arena rock, and “A Heart That Forgives” has the tenderness of a Disney anthem. Mr. LeVar produced a good deal of this album, and though he has a meaty voice, he rarely places himself above the action. But the single, “Your Destiny,” is produced by Harmony Samuels, who has worked with Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez and more, and who turns Mr. LeVar into a convincing solo star.

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Kelley Mickwee blends exhaustion and sweetness on “You Used to Live Here.”CreditJoel Calvin

Kelley Mickwee

YOU USED TO LIVE HERE

Exhaustion and sweetness compete for attention in the voice of Kelley Mickwee. Sometimes they turn out to be the same thing. “I just want to sleep all day, rain on my roof,” she sings on the lonely blues-soul of “River Girl,” before continuing, “The river keeps rising, ain’t that the truth?/It could wash me away, down to the sea.” And yet despite the fatalistic imagery, she sounds contemplative and calm. Acceptance is freedom. That’s the mode of “You Used to Live Here,” the first proper solo album from Ms. Mickwee, known for her work with the Trishas and the duo Jed and Kelley. She includes a pair of covers (John Fulbright’s “Blameless” and Eliza Gilkyson’s “Dark Side of Town”), but the material she co-wrote feels more natural, better suited to her voice. “You used to live here,” she sings on the title track, “and I still do.” And she minds. But she’ll be O.K.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page AR16 of the New York edition with the headline: Cries of Gloom, Resignation and Heartbreak, Plus Faith. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe